


Easy to forget what you've learned

by pene



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-29
Updated: 2014-01-29
Packaged: 2018-01-10 11:48:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1159363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pene/pseuds/pene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the end, the answer is simple.</p><p>Post episode 5.01, Blaine's proposal, Kurt's reply, and the things that come after.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Easy to forget what you've learned

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to corinna for asking the right questions

In the end, the answer is simple. Blaine’s looking up the staircase and everything he has just said rings bright and true in Kurt’s head. The spectacle disappears, the people vanish, the music and the staircase and the tumbling rose petals fade, and it’s just them: Kurt unable to breathe and Blaine kneeling there, offering forever, eyes shining. It’s absurdly sweet. It’s everything Kurt knows about love. 

 

There is no reason not to promise forever when this has always been forever. 

So he does. 

Afterwards they’re in Dalton’s entrance hall, surrounded by people. Even now it feels like everyone’s eyes are on him. Especially now, with no one singing or performing tidily choreographed dance moves. Blaine is holding Kurt’s hand. If Kurt’s not careful Blaine might never let go of his hand. 

Kurt has already shared tearful one-armed hugs with Rachel and Mercedes and, less obtrusively but no less significantly, with his dad. 

Even though it all seemed simple in the end, and even though he knew what was coming, Kurt’s still amazed by this whole elaborate scene. He’s a little overwhelmed by the sheer number of people Blaine has brought together. And he’s slightly in shock about his own answer. His heart is beating quick and hard in his chest. He hasn’t caught his breath. He squeezes Blaine’s fingers then removes his hand from Blaine’s grip.

Blaine’s distracted by thanking the Haverbrook choristers. He’s using some sort of ineffectual combination of one handed sign language and charade.

“If you ever need an extra show choir for some kind of flash mob or wedding, I’m your guy,” Blaine is saying to one of the Haverbrook girls. He stops and repeats himself, annunciating more carefully. She watches his lips patiently.

Kurt looks about the room. It’s a cacophony of colorful outfits. There are red petals on the floor. In the doorway Rachel is monopolizing his dad, beaming and waving her hands. Mercedes and Sam and Tina are deep in hushed conversation. 

“-Or somewhere to stay in New York City,” says Blaine to the girl. “I’ll be living there soon. With Kurt.” He’s so sure and so happy. Kurt tries not to picture his Bushwick apartment beset by three show choirs. 

“He may be a while,” says Sebastian, appearing at Kurt’s elbow. Kurt smiles faintly. Sebastian’s hair is shorter than it was but his posture is all Abercrombie and Fitch and he looks as self-satisfied as ever. One synchronized song and dance hasn’t turned him into a friend.

“Mmm. Looks like it,” says Kurt.

“You are aware that you’re marrying the least ironic man in the United States,” says Sebastian.

Kurt looks at Blaine. Even the yellow suit and bow tie he’s wearing are sincere. Blaine’s eyes shift to him for a moment. Kurt can’t hold back a smile. “I am aware, yes,” he says to Sebastian. He doesn’t say anything further. It’s easy to be generous when Blaine is so clearly overjoyed. 

“Didn’t peg you for enjoying this sort of public display of ardor,” says Sebastian. “Thought you were on too tight a leash. Too controlled, too closeted.”

“I have never been closeted,” says Kurt tautly. It’s mostly true. Not that it matters, he’s just annoyed that he let Sebastian get a rise out of him. 

“I guess not,” says Sebastian. He pauses. “I bet they were rough on you at that uncivilized waste of a school you dragged Blaine to.” Kurt doesn’t know if Sebastian is concerned or gloating. Could be both.

“And hello to you too, trust fund,” says Santana from behind Kurt. She rests a hand on Kurt’s shoulder. “I’m pretty sure you’re talking about the school Blaine’s still at, however hard you whored your ass to get him back. Come on Kurt, you boys just made Lima history - the intensely boring kind of history but still history. You need to get a photo. Abrams fancies himself a cinematographer. He’s all about capturing our lives.”

She pulls him away. Sebastian smiles and nods his farewell but it lacks the bite of his usual superiority. Kurt turns back, letting Santana move on without him. 

“Blaine is thrilled the Warblers were here,” he says on a whim. “So thank you.”

“You know how it is. I sometimes need to take part in something saccharine as a palate cleanser amongst all the delicious hedonism.” Sebastian smiles crookedly.

Kurt smiles back. When he turns, Blaine is right there in his space. “Okay?” Blaine asks.

“Beyond okay,” says Kurt. Blaine smiles and reaches for Kurt, and Kurt lets himself lean into him. It’s a relief. 

“Photo time, gays,” says Santana, raising her voice from across the room. 

Kurt meets Blaine’s eyes and takes a steady breath. For a moment Blaine breathes with him. Kurt fixes his hair, straightens Blaine’s jacket and they move to join their friends. 

**

“They’re home tomorrow?” Kurt asks later in the doorway of Blaine’s house. They haven’t really done this often, spent extended time alone in someone’s house. It was supposed to happen on Blaine’s trips to New York, with Kurt bribing Rachel to stay away. 

“My parents? Yes, not ‘til tomorrow,” Blaine says. It’s early afternoon and the light through the windows is gold. He takes off his jacket. Kurt lets himself watch the movement of Blaine’s shoulders and muscles under his shirt and vest. It’s stunning.

“You didn’t want them here?” asks Kurt carefully, pulling his mind back into focus. He thinks he knows the answer but it’s Blaine so everything is fine unless you really ask.

“They’re catching up with the Medecins Sans Frontieres team in Columbus. It’s okay, really. What they’re doing is important. They told me not to wait ‘til they could be around.”

“Okay,” says Kurt. “Do you feel-“

“It’s not that they don’t like you,” Blaine says. “It’s not that they don’t support me in this. In their way. They’re just not really at home with, um, overt public emotion and… I mean they could tell I was going to say something from the heart.”

Not for the first time, Kurt wonders how Blaine came to be the person he is. “What gave it away?” Kurt asks, “Did they overhear your order for a thousand red rose petals?”

“Two thousand,” says Blaine, ducking his head. 

Kurt giggles and covers his mouth. “There were lots of people there today,” he says. “What-“ He doesn’t know if it’s the time to say What if I said no? or worse What if I’d been dazzled into saying yes and had made both of our lives a misery?

“What if you’d said no?” asks Blaine.

Kurt nods. 

“Or what if you felt pressured into saying yes?”

Kurt nods again, his eyes on Blaine’s.

“I trust you, Kurt. You’ve faced down worse things than four show choirs and an admittedly exceptional Beatles song. I knew you’d say ‘no’ if you meant no. It’s something I love about you. And as for the other, it was a risk I was willing to take. There’s no point in being brave if there’s no risk. And you are worth every risk.” 

Kurt blinks. His eyes are damp. “What you said, today, it was beautiful,” Kurt says. 

“Because it was true,” says Blaine. 

“Yeah.” Kurt steps into Blaine’s space. The reality of the empty house and time alone stops his breath. 

“So we don’t have to,” starts Blaine, but he’s running a hand up Kurt’s arm and the touch rushes straight to Kurt’s blood. Kurt blushes. It’s frustrating. He’s supposed to be a man of the world now, confident in his sexuality, but even the thought of time alone with Blaine still makes him shiver with want.

“I know we don’t have to. But we can,” says Kurt, tugging him close. 

It’s easy to abandon himself to a love that threatens to explode inside him when no one is watching. Blaine laughs blissfully against Kurt’s lips. 

**

Lima will always be here. McKinley too, barring budget cuts and acts of god. Kurt survived this place; he did better than survive. The school holds no fear for him now.

Blaine’s last class of the day is in the senior science labs. Kurt deposits his coffee cup in the trash can on the landing and takes the stairs evenly. His boots are smooth soled and slip slightly against the floor. It’s strange to be alone in the hallways, but not unwelcome.

There’s a cabinet outside the labs. Blaine smiles widely at him from three team photos. His name is listed under student parliament and debate. McKinley might not be Dalton Academy, but Blaine at McKinley is nothing if not a success. 

Kurt leans against the wall opposite the lab. He tugs on his sleeves. Part of the way he survived this place was by choosing how he would be seen. He couldn’t avoid attention. If he was going to be noticed, it would be for fabulous accessories and slim-fit knee length sweaters. It would be on his own terms. 

It made it possible to breathe while every eye was on him. It did not make it easy.

"Kurt!" says Blaine as he tumbles from the classroom with about seventy other students. Even as he smiles, his eyes rake Kurt’s body, a swift appraisal that leaves Kurt warm with longing. Kurt has never wanted to disappear less than he does now. He closes his eyes briefly to the flash of memory from last night - his body wrapped in Blaine, Blaine’s voiceless gasps in his ear, Blaine’s sure hands on his skin.

"Thank you for picking me up," Blaine is saying and, "That class seemed to go on forever. I honestly have no idea what redox is any more." He leans in to kiss Kurt. 

No one looks at you in New York. It’s made Kurt more comfortable with the idea of showing public affection, despite not having much opportunity to practice. He also knows musical numbers can make him drop his guard. But these are the hallways where he learned to be cautious so he glances around quickly before returning the kiss. 

Blaine’s eyes flick to Kurt’s. He smiles. “I love you,” he says softly and runs his thumb over Kurt’s ring quickly. 

"Ready to go?" says Kurt. "Dad and Carole won’t be back for hours but I don’t want to waste a minute of the time we have."

"Absolutely."

In the car Kurt left behind when he moved to New York, Kurt looks at Blaine. He’s beautiful: warm eyes, warm skin; gorgeous and compact and defined. Kurt doesn’t need to worry that his gaze will be anything but welcome. He doesn’t need to worry about that ever again.

"Come here," says Kurt on a sigh and for a moment when they kiss the world and all its ugly memories disappear. 

"I wish you didn’t have to leave tomorrow," says Blaine. 

"I wish you were coming with me."

"I know. At least it’s not long now." 

"Not long, and then forever," says Kurt. It’s the happiest thought. 

Kurt starts the car. Blaine puts his hand on Kurt’s thigh. They roll down the windows and sing as they drive.


End file.
